Home or hospital as the place of end-of-life care and death: A grounded theory study of parents' decision-making.

Background: While several studies have examined 'what' families want with regard to the place of a child's end-of-life care and death, few have explored 'how' parents reach a decision.

Aims: (1) to develop a model explaining how parents of a child with a life-threatening illness in Greece decide about the place of end-of-life care and death; (2) to identify the factors affecting decision-making; (3) to consider the implications for clinical practice.

Design: Grounded theory study of bereaved parents using semi-structured open-ended interviews following Strauss and Corbin's principles of data collection and analysis.

The Parieto-Occipital Artery Revisited: A Microsurgical Anatomic Study.

Background: The parieto-occipital artery (PoA) is the terminal posterior cerebral artery branch, which typically runs in the parieto-occipital sulcus. Previous studies have highlighted variation in the PoA origin and branching pattern and their clinical implications. Nevertheless, PoA anastomoses have not been systematically investigated.

Metal external ventricular drainage catheters in the treatment of persistent ventriculitis - an old story made new: technical note and preliminary results.

Aim: Conventional ventricular catheters have proven to be ineffective in the drainage of the cerebrospinal fluid in the long run in terms of infection rates. Consequently, the development and clinical evaluation of new catheters is urgently needed.

Material And Methods: We implanted a ventricular needle made of stainless steel in 3 neurosurgical patients in whom multiple conventional (silicon) ventricular catheters had been previously implanted.

Attachment of Pseudomonas putida onto differently structured kaolinite minerals: a combined ATR-FTIR and 1H NMR study.

The attachment of Pseudomonas (P.) putida onto well (KGa-1) and poorly (KGa-2) crystallized kaolinite was investigated in this study. Batch experiments were carried out to determine the attachment isotherms of P.

Rapid magnetic heating treatment by highly charged maghemite nanoparticles on Wistar rats exocranial glioma tumors at microliter volume.

One of the most significant challenges implementing colloidal magnetic nanoparticles in medicine is the efficient heating of microliter quantities by applying a low frequency alternating magnetic field. The ultimate goal is to accomplish nonsurgically the treatment of millimeter size tumors. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis, characterization, and the in vitro as well as in vivo efficiency of a dextran coated maghemite (gamma-Fe(2)O(3)) ferrofluid with an exceptional response to magnetic heating.

Observations of coarsening of air voids in a polymer-highly-soluble crystalline matrix during dissolution.

A combination of magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray microcomputed tomography has been used to visualize the development of the internal micro-structure within compressed tablets made from a combination of insoluble particles (Eudragit, a polymer) and soluble particles (diltiazem hydrochloride, a drug), during dissolution in water. Air voids in the tablet are seen to coarsen. The size distribution of the air voids is well fitted by a log-normal distribution with a mean size that grows linearly with time.